Dry masonry wall



Sept. 5, 1967 J. HEIN DRY MASONRY WALL Filed Feb. 5. 1965 FIG llllllll II.\IVENTO.RZ Jul/us Hem Attorney United States Patent 3,339,332 DRY MASONRY WALL Julius Hein, 3 Apostelgasse, Vienna III, Austria Filed Feb. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 430,542 Claims priority, application Austria, May 29, 1964, A 4,672/ 64 4 Claims. (Cl. 52-584) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Dry-masonry wall comprising a plurality of super-imposed horizontal courses of contiguous identical wall blocks of rectangular parallelepipedic Wall blocks having throughgoing slots located in the median longitudinal plane of each block and terminating short of the lateral sides thereof while having a width equal to a minor fraction of the width of each block, the blocks of each course having end faces abutting the end faces of the adjoining blocks of the course, the blocks of each course being offset horizontally with respect to the blocks of adjoining upper and lower courses by a distance of half the length of the blocks, and a multiplicity of generally flat U-shaped hook members having bight portions bridging the abutting faces of the adjoining blocks of each course and of a width substantially equal to the width of the slots with legs projecting from the bight portion into the slots of the adjoining blocks and substantially tightly received therein, the spacing between the legs of each hook member being substantially equal to the spacing between the slots of the adjoining blocks with abutting end faces, the bight portion of each hook member being substantially tightly received in the slot of a block of an adjacent course spanning the blocks receiving the legs of the respective hook member.

This invention relates to a dry masonry wall which comprises superimposed courses of wall elements or blocks. The essential feature of the invention resides in that the parallelepipedic elements, which are formed with slots extending in the longitudinal direction of the element and vertically through the same and closed toward the end faces, are relatively staggered in succeeding courses by one half of the length of an element and are held against a displacement transversely to the longitudinal direction of the wall and against a longitudinal displacement by hooks which are U-shaped in elevation and inserted into the slots, fit the width thereof and embrace the portions of the elements at the ends of the slots.

Another feature of the invention resides in that the ends of the elements are provided with a tongue and a groove and this tongue and groove are alternatingly arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal plane of symmetry of each element.

An embodiment of the invention is shown by Way of example on the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is an elevation showing the wall,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing a course with one hook, and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views showing a Wall element and a hook.

The several elements 1 of the dry masonry wall are parallelepipedic and formed with a narrow slot 2, which extends continuously from top to bottom and is closed at the end by the material 3 of the element. These wall elements 1 are arranged in superimposed courses and are staggered in adjacent courses by one half of the length of an element. The wall elements are placed in a dry condition. Adjacent elements 1 interlock at their ends by a tongue 4 and a groove 5. The elements of each course are held together by hook members 6, which are U-shaped in elevation and consist of any desired material, such as metal or other materials. These hooks prevent a displacement of two adjacent wall elements relative to each other in the longitudinal direction. To this end, the clearance between the two leg portions 7 of each hook is exactly twice thethickness of the wall portions 3. The next upper course, i.e., each wall element disposed over a hook, is displaceable to a limited extent in the longitudinal direction of the wall. This facilitates the assembly.

The above-mentioned dry masonry wall and its elements afiord mainly the advantage that the entire element is available throughout its extent for taking up static loads, except for the relatively small, narrow slot. The slot and hook serve only for holding adjacent elements together.

What is claimed is:

1. A dry masonry wall comprising a plurality of superimposed horizontal courses of contiguous identical wall blocks of rectangular parallelepipedic wall blocks having throughgoing slots located in the median longitudinal plane of each block and terminating short of the lateral sides thereof while having a width equal to a minor fraction of the width of each block, the blocks of each course having end faces abutting the end faces of the adjoining blocks of the course, the blocks of each course being offset horizontally with respect to the blocks of adjoining upper and lower courses by a distance of half the length of the blocks, and a multiplicity of generally fiat U-shaped hook members having bight portions bridging the abutting faces of the adjoining blocks of each course and of a width substantially equal to the width of said slots with legs projecting from said bight portions into the slots of the adjoining blocks and substantially tightly received therein, the spacing between the legs of each hook memher being substantially equal to the spacing between the slots of the adjoining blocks with abutting end faces, said bight portion of each hook member being substantially tightly received in the slot of a block of an adjacent course spanning the blocks receiving the legs of the respective hook member.

2. A dry masonry wall as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said blocks is symmetrical with respect to said longitudinal median plane thereto and is formed along its end faces with a vertical tongue on one side of said plane and a vertical groove adapted to receive said tongue on the other side of said plane, the tongue and groove on the end faces of each block being disposed complementarily whereby the tongue and groove of the abutting end faces of adjoining blocks of each course interfit upon clamping of the blocks of the courses together with said hook members.

3. The dry masonry wall as defined in claim 2 wherein the tongues and grooves of each of said blocks are disposed on opposite sides of the respective hook member and slot and are spaced therefrom.

4. A dry masonry wall as defined in claim 3 wherein said hook members have a length less than the length of the slots.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 132,291 10/ 1872 Johnson et al 52584 384,541 6/1888 Palmer 52584 2,199,112 4/ 1940 OLeary 52584 X FOREIGN PATENTS 409,861 3/1945 Italy.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. A. C. PERHAM, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DRY MASONRY WALL COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SUPERIMPOSED HORIZONTAL COURSES OF CONTIGUOUS IDENTICAL WALL BLOCKS OF RECTANGULAR PARALLELEPIPEDIC WALL BLOCKS HAVING THROUGHGOING SLOTS LOCATED IN THE MEDIAN LONGITUDINAL PLANE OF EACH BLOCK AND TERMINATING SHORT OF THE LATERAL SIDES THEREOF WHILE HAVING A WIDTH EQUAL TO MINOR FRACTION OF THE WIDTH OF EACH BLOCK, THE BLOCKS OF EACH COURSE HAVING END FACES ABUTTING THE END FACES OF THE ADJOINING BLOCKS OF THE COURSE, THE BLOCKS OF EACH COURSE BEING OFFSET HORIZONTALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE BLOCKS OF ADJOINING UPPER AND LOWER COURSES BY A DISTANCE OF HALF THE LENGTH OF THE BLOCKS, AND A MULTIPLICITY OF GENERALLY FLAT U-SHAPED HOOK MEMBERS HAVING BIGHT PORTIONS BRIDGING THE ABUTTING FACES OF THE ADJOINING BLOCKS OF EACH COURSE AND OF A WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE WIDTH OF SAID SLOTS WITH LEGS PROJECTING FROM SAID BIGHT PORTIONS INTO THE SLOTS OF THE ADJOINING BLOCKS AND SUBSTANTIALLY TIGHTLY RECEIVED THEREIN, THE SPACING BETWEEN THE LEGS OF EACH HOOK MEMBER BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE SPACING BETWEEN THE SLOTS OF THE ADJOINING BLOCKS WITH ABUTING END FACES, SAID BIGHT PORTION OF EACH HOOK MEMBER BEING SUBSTANTIALLY TIGHTLY RECEIVED IN THE SLOT OF A BLOCK OF AN ADJACENT COURSE SPANNING THE BLOCKS RECEIVING THE LEGS OF THE RESPECTIVE HOOK MEMBER. 